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expiredKingpyn posted Jan 7, 2025 9:00 AM

Neal Stephenson: Anathem (eBook)

$2.00

$9.99

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Various Merchants have Neal Stephenson: Anathem (eBook) on sale for $1.99.

Thanks to Community Member Kingpyn for sharing this deal.

Available from the following stores:About this Book:
  • Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside -- the Extramuros -- for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.
  • Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates -- at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.
  • Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros -- a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose -- as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world -- as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.

Editor's Notes

Written by citan359 | Staff
  • About this Deal:
  • About this Product:
    • 1010 Pages
    • Anathem won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
    • About this Store:

    Original Post

    Written by Kingpyn
    Community Notes
    About the Poster
    Deal Details
    Community Notes
    About the Poster
    Various Merchants have Neal Stephenson: Anathem (eBook) on sale for $1.99.

    Thanks to Community Member Kingpyn for sharing this deal.

    Available from the following stores:About this Book:
    • Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside -- the Extramuros -- for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.
    • Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates -- at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.
    • Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros -- a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose -- as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world -- as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.

    Editor's Notes

    Written by citan359 | Staff
    • About this Deal:
    • About this Product:
      • 1010 Pages
      • Anathem won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
      • About this Store:

      Original Post

      Written by Kingpyn

      Community Voting

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      12 Comments

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      Jan 8, 2025 1:18 PM
      61 Comments
      Joined Dec 2007
      CtrlBurnJan 8, 2025 1:18 PM
      61 Comments
      This was the first Neal Stephenson I read. I was baffled for the first 5-10 pages, but it got very interesting very quickly. Really great world building and a very creative concept. Overall a really fun read and prompted me to read a bunch more of his stuff
      Jan 8, 2025 2:59 PM
      6 Comments
      Joined Oct 2010
      reakt80Jan 8, 2025 2:59 PM
      6 Comments
      Top 5 book for me, really fascinating world. A lot of readers say the beginning is a bit slow, personally I could read a whole series based on that section.
      Jan 8, 2025 3:02 PM
      33 Comments
      Joined Nov 2018
      KurtS5995Jan 8, 2025 3:02 PM
      33 Comments
      Slickdeals is my reading group lol.
      Jan 8, 2025 3:16 PM
      1.5K Comments
      Joined Dec 2005
      PriceTheoryJan 8, 2025 3:16 PM
      1.5K Comments
      Good book but not as tight as the other stuff I have read from him.

      Makes me wonder if it is one of those books that came out at the point where an author was so successful that they could tell the publisher's editors to shove it…book will be a bestseller just by having his name on it so he can do whatever he wants.

      …but then it turns out that maybe the editors had a point and the story needed to be cut back a bit to expose the meat.

      Think it could have been better if a few pages were cut back. Like a 2:20 movie they should have done in 2 hours.

      Long way of saying maybe this shouldn't be your first of his books, but if you like his other books then you should read this.
      Last edited by PriceTheory January 8, 2025 at 07:19 AM.
      2
      Jan 8, 2025 3:39 PM
      63 Comments
      Joined Feb 2008
      Ingue86Jan 8, 2025 3:39 PM
      63 Comments
      Cryptonomicon is also on sale for $2. Is that a better place to start for this author?
      Jan 8, 2025 4:09 PM
      1.2K Comments
      Joined Sep 2008
      FareJan 8, 2025 4:09 PM
      1.2K Comments
      Great worldbuilding, very long but enjoyable and I liked the grand scope and everything coming full circle at the end. I also connected with the characters much better than in Seveneves.

      If you like this style (long with a cool plot that all comes together at the end) check out A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Or if you'd like something a little more straightforward but even better world building and more character focused, The Way of Kings.
      Last edited by Fare January 8, 2025 at 08:13 AM.
      Jan 8, 2025 7:21 PM
      633 Comments
      Joined Aug 2012
      LetsDoSlickJan 8, 2025 7:21 PM
      633 Comments
      Thanks, good use of my digital credits... Repped!

      Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

      Jan 8, 2025 8:02 PM
      621 Comments
      Joined Jan 2009
      gobigblue312Jan 8, 2025 8:02 PM
      621 Comments
      Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is also $1.99 on Amazon for Kindle edition
      https://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomi...tag=AUTHOR
      Jan 8, 2025 8:22 PM
      1.5K Comments
      Joined Dec 2005
      PriceTheoryJan 8, 2025 8:22 PM
      1.5K Comments
      Quote from Ingue86 :
      Cryptonomicon is also on sale for $2. Is that a better place to start for this author?
      Yeah, I think that one is fascinating.
      1
      Jan 8, 2025 10:57 PM
      1.7K Comments
      Joined Aug 2007
      mostholycerebusJan 8, 2025 10:57 PM
      1.7K Comments

      Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank mostholycerebus

      Excellent book, and top tier Stephenson. Its long and may feel like a slog, but it takes off and pulls you in.

      Quote from PriceTheory :
      Good book but not as tight as the other stuff I have read from him.

      Makes me wonder if it is one of those books that came out at the point where an author was so successful that they could tell the publisher's editors to shove it…book will be a bestseller just by having his name on it so he can do whatever he wants.

      …but then it turns out that maybe the editors had a point and the story needed to be cut back a bit to expose the meat.

      Think it could have been better if a few pages were cut back. Like a 2:20 movie they should have done in 2 hours.

      Long way of saying maybe this shouldn't be your first of his books, but if you like his other books then you should read this.
      "Too long and could have 20% cut" has been Stephensons whole career. Still a great author tho.
      1
      Jan 9, 2025 1:00 PM
      3.3K Comments
      Joined Nov 2007
      ResidentPonyJan 9, 2025 1:00 PM
      3.3K Comments
      Quote from Ingue86 :
      Cryptonomicon is also on sale for $2. Is that a better place to start for this author?
      Very much so, yes. I've read both. Anathem was a slog, a "look at me" of world building. Cryptonomicon not only tells two parallel stories very well, it's also loosely the first in a short series if you want to continue after.
      1
      Jan 9, 2025 2:59 PM
      33 Comments
      Joined Feb 2011
      starkiller4299Jan 9, 2025 2:59 PM
      33 Comments
      Anathem started out as a slog to me, but about halfway through I realized I was reading it all wrong. I thought it was supposed to be serious. NO! It is chock full of very, VERY dry humor. If you're open to that sort of thing, this book will have you in stitches.

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